Individual and Group Dynamics

Case study - Michael Patterson

-Submission 2

By
Study Group C8
 CONFEDERATION KITCHEN
Started : 1982 by Jim Allen
Industry : Kitchen and Bathroom Design
Area of Operation : Canada, United States
No. of Employees (Present) : 165

• Initiated succession Plan in 2005

• This began a period of frequent change in the top managerial positions
• Employee opinion : declined morale, random, unjustified, lack of knowledge issues,
confusion creation, different boss each day
• Quality of products and services went down = decline in sales
 Managerial Issues

• Allen’s structural adjustment to find his successor backfired, which lead to severe
implications on sales and employee engagement
• Creating different verticals lead to mismanagement
• Employees looked for someone like Allen
• Frequent changes caused ideological differences
• Cutting down employee workforce to maintain profits
 Hero of the case - Patterson

Hard worker Conscientious

Learner

Direct Communication-
Straight forward
 Patterson’s Problem

• He gets stunned to learn the rumour that, even though he would be

working under, Peake, he would have to be reporting to McAteer

• Patterson had a bad past professional relationship with McAteer due

to his straight forwardness

• He is worried that he would be Underutilised and that would create a

negative influence on his career
 Problem Statement

Should Patterson talk to Peake about his issues with McAteer ?

(or)
Should he just keep quite and continue with the job ?
 Options

Option 1
Patterson should not worry as it might be just a rumour

Option 2
Wait before reaching to conclusions and hope that the situation turns
better with McAteer this time

Option 3
Should go and confront Peake about the rumour
 Solution

Patterson should Go with the flow and start working with Peake.

If the rumour gets true :-

• He should start working on trying to be a bit less direct with McAteer

• Try to gain his impression

• Slowly get into a better work position